Letter to the Editor: Three supervisors need to be replaced

Shenandoah County needs representatives on its Board of Supervisors who are respectful, play by the rules and understand legal opinion. I witnessed a stunning display of anti-democratic moves by three supervisors on Feb. 16 who attempted to take over the leadership of the board by ignoring a legal opinion from the county attorney.

They were all aware of the opinion and acted anyway, in violation of a Virginia code that says such action cannot take place at any but a “regular” meeting, which that night’s was not. Furthermore, Cindy Bailey, who made the motion, knew it was a violation — she had the attorney’s letter — but went ahead anyway. Supervisors Richard Walker and Marsha Shruntz acted with her, even though they too knew they were thwarting legal opinion.

Really! This is obstructionist and destructive behavior. And, concocting a majority vote illegally is undemocratic. Shenandoah County is not a banana republic where dictators do whatever they want irrespective of the law.

I understand why many in the county fear higher taxes and see the votes of these three supervisors as their way of keeping them low. We all need to talk about the tax issue. There are plenty of economic arguments that counter the approach of these supervisors. Both sides need to. be heard.

But, petty, anti-democratic manipulations should not be tolerated by any of us. Voters need to look for supervisors who respect the rules of our decision-making process, whatever their political views.

All three of these supervisors need to be replaced and two of their seats (Bailey’s and Shruntz’s) will be subject to 2017 fall elections. We deserve better.